Recently I harvested our garlic, and it was such a gratifying feeling! Last summer the only veggie that I failed at growing was garlic, not a clove took root! After that failure, I decided to take a different approach. I planted four different varieties, Elephant, Spanish Roja, Music and Early California, November of 2024. I was a little worried I hadn’t planted them deep enough, so I put a layer of straw over them to keep them well insulated through the winter. Turns out planting in the fall and taking the extra care to keep them warm paid off. Every clove I planted produced a beautiful head of garlic!

Kim and Bella Cleaning and Bundling Garlic

I kept the straw on them to help keep the weeds in check and once the bottom two leaves turned brown, I knew they were ready. Last Thursday, I spent a lovely morning harvesting my garlic. Later in the week, Bella and I cleaned and bundled it, according to their variety, and hung them up in the Potting Shed. Bella was a natural at preparing them to dry. The shed smells wonderful and in a few weeks the garlic will be ready to use!

I have eaten Elephant garlic before, but the other three varieties are new to me, so I think a taste test is in order. I was talking with a friend about it, and he suggested that I roast each kind separately with a bit of olive oil, then once the cloves are soft, I can spread them over bread or a cracker and compare the taste of each one! Brilliant idea… now I just need to figure out what kind of wine would go with roasted garlic and invite my girlfriends over to enjoy the taste test with me.

I will have to write a follow up post to report the outcome! Until then, here is a bit of information on each variety. As we were hanging the garlic, I realized I can set aside a few heads of each variety and plant them in the fall! Bella noted when I said this that when I do that my garlic would then be self-sustaining!

I purchased all my garlic from www.burpee.com. The Elephant, Spanish Roja and Califor nia Early were all rated three stars, and Music was a four-star rating.

Elephant Garlic

Elephant Garlic prefers a long cool growing season and is best planted in early fall. The larger the planted clove, the larger the bulb it will produce. It has a delicious mild flavor.

Music Garlic

Full flavored, rich and aromatic, Music garlic is one of the best known and most sought-after varieties. One of the hardiest garlics it is easy to grow in most climates with some indication of disease tolerance. It is perfect for first time growers (like me!) it is named after Canadian grower Al Music who is said to have brought this variety over from Italy in the 1980’s. It is a hard neck variety.

Spanish Roja Garlic

This is the garlic of choice in fine restaurants because of its easy to peel cloves and outstanding rich flavor. It is probably the most popular hard neck type because most garlic lovers find the flavor to be “true garlic”. It is considered a Northwest heirloom reported to be brought into Northwest Oregon before 1900. It is also often called Greek garlic. It has beautiful coloring, easy to peel cloves and outstanding hot flavor, making it a favorite for chefs and foodies. It averages 11 cloves per bulb.

California Early Garlic

Mild tasting with subtle flavor, California Early garlic is a soft neck variety. Its mild taste was developed for the California garlic industry. Considered very popular and enjoyed by many this variety is adaptable and grows in a variety of climates. Its course, tight tunics make for a long storage life up to six months.

Growing Garlic

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